Here in Papua New Guinea it is 10:40 PM on the evening of November 27. In the US Mountain Time Zone where most of my family lives, it's 5:40 AM. For most of you in the US, Thanksgiving Day is dawning. It is not Thanksgiving day here, any more than it is in Canada or Scotland. We worked a full day today. But most of the missionaries where I live and work at Kudjip Hospital are from the US, and we choose to use this day to gather together, express our thanks to God for countless gifts and blessings, and to eat a lot of food. (My wife is Canadian, and we often celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, and then do something for PNG's Thanksgiving Day as well, giving us 3 thanksgiving dinners per year!)

So this evening we gathered with 18 friends, and ate chicken and ham. We did turkey last year, after my wife bought every frozen turkey in the near-by town. Sadly, many of these birds had been frozen and thawed more than once on their journey from Australia or New Zealand to us, and were spoiled, so we didn't risk it this year. We ate and we laughed, told stories (many of them were even true) and each shared 5 things that he or she is particularly thankful for. Contrary to the common stereotype, missionaries are bright, funny, interesting, generous people who are fun to be with. Very few are missionaries because they can't handle a "real job," but because they are passionate about a cause. It was a great evening.

Among the things I'm thankful for are a few that I didn't mention in my 5-item-limited list at dinner this evening. I'm thankful that I don't weight 228# any more. I'm thankful that my knees don't usually hurt, and that I can stand up from a chair without struggling. I'm thankful for a funky, dusty weight room with it's 7 different brands of barbell plates where I can work off a day's stress, and maybe get just a little stronger. I'm thankful for food that is filling and satisfying without making me fat again.

And I'm thankful that there is a bunch of folks who sit at their computers helping each other achieve their goals for health and fitness on this forum. Thanks to all of you for the help you have been to me over the past few months.

Well, I can't tell that they eat anything special for any holiday. They sure feast for special occasions like a wedding or a graduation, or to seal a peace agreement between tribes. Holidays are usually marked by a special church service (or several) but no particular meal.

I've never eaten cassawary. Other ex-pats who have say that it's tough and gamy. It would only be eaten for the most exciting occasions. Cassawaries are very valuable, and there is usually a big incentive to kepp them alive, grow them a bit bigger and sell them. Or to keep them in case your brother or son needs help buying a wife. Or another wife. Or yet another wife.

My favorite meat in PNG (although I love the pork that they cook in pits, a method called "mumu") is crocodile. Excellent flavor, and very tender.

For the rest, it's a big bird, about the size and shape of an ostrich, with a mean disposition, and large, sharp talons which have been known to disembowel an adult human. They are prized here for...well, I don't know why they are prized, but they are. An adult can sell for US$400-800. They have to be confined in a small shed. If they are in an open pen that is large enough for a running start they can jump and flap their little wings and get enough height to clear most fences. My ovservation is that they are more trouble than they are worth. I have treated 3 children who have been clawed by them. All 3 survived, but the docs who have been here longer have seen adults killed by them.

I don't know when/where I first learned of their existance, but I do remember the first time I saw one in person. The Bronx Zoo used to have two cassowaries, along with emus, rheas and ostriches. I knew that people sometimes hunted them for food, but never heard of people keeping live ones outside of zoos.

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